Tag Archives: Meditation

Embodiment before strategy

Minimalist line art emphasizing embodiment before strategy

Embodied somatic action harmonizes with cognitive focused strategies and increases conscious connection to motivation. It leads to clarity of motivation before action. This pattern increases the potential for successful outcomes in all life areas, and reduces inner and outer conflicted states. Leading with strategies indoctrinates self and others and reduces innovation, motivation and spontaneous outcomes. Embodiment cultivates awareness and increases possibilities for higher outcomes and experiences.

Cognitive Strategies Vs Somatic Awareness

Strategies are cognitive based upon beliefs, while somatic processing is a learning path of awareness. A cognitive based belief system can stunt a person’s perspective by its nature as it has a focus of attention in one or two life areas only. For example, if a person is only focused on wealth and its attainment, every action will be strategic to meet that need. Generally, there will be a lack of mindfulness through the experience. The experience will lack the balance and harmony that is born from lived mindful awareness. Without this mindfulness there can be perpetual states of conflict, inside and out. Conflicted states fanned by the flames of seeking ways to increase wealth. This can influence every aspect of living as this conflict is expressed through emotional behaviour, expression and physical action. It can extend to every relationship that begins with critiquing through the lens of how to use others to their advantage in growing greediness. Strategy focused actions usually led to winners and losers. Strategies born from beliefs lack conscious awareness of the intent in the present moment. Beliefs are the past, yet they control the present, the future. This pattern can lead to extreme actions and statements for justification, with the last attempt feeding the next.

The process of mindfully connecting to one’s inner motivation before strategies increases conscious awareness. This process is more likely to grow beyond a single minded focus such as in this example, to become wealthy. The isolation that comes with self perceived status can expand into a state of thriving, instead of striving, through the increased range of information that comes with inclusion. Achievement will not be at the cost of people, places and things and instead include consideration for them. Those who are strategy first decision makers are not eliminating somatic experiences, they simply have no control over it. Their focus on power and control is strategic and is without the abilities of self regulation. How can one self regulate an experience they are cognitively ignoring? Being led by uncontrollable somatic experiences can lead to conflict and harm, of self and to others. They may lack the discernment for recognizing they are living in a cycle of going from one catastrophic experience to the next. Often overlapping.

Embodiment before strategy is a learning pattern integrated into the program topics at Inside Awareness. Learn more about the lifestyle program topics.

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Copyright 2014 โ€“ 2026 Renee Lindstrom, GCFP

Announcing the release of the 12 Levels of Consciousness

Now Available on Amazon Kindle

Each of the programs offered at Inside Awareness has the potential to increase understanding and clarity of each of these 12 levels of consciousness in the Dimension Levels of Consciousness Map using practice steps of skill development in the patterns of actions for day to day activities in oneโ€™s lifestyle. These qualities bring optimism, hope, self love and esteem in ordinary life experiences initiating fulfillment and contentment. Learn more about the programs in the link below, under the maps 12 Level descriptions.

Get 12 Levels of Consciousness Poster – Poster Link


The mind focus origins in psychology uses Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs to describe the levels of behaviour evolution. These 12 levels of consciousness uses a somatic focus to initiate cognitive mindfulness. The descriptions interprets the balance of the two intertwined dimensions: the body and the mind. This pattern is designed to come into alignment through somatic awareness versus the conceptualization of the cognitive attributes.

Each of the levels are described in the 12 Levels of Consciousness available on Amazon Kindle.

Get your action cards on pdf to print for reflection, consideration and personal action step! 12 Action Cards – Levels of Consciousness

Listen to a meditation for the 12 Levels of Consciousness: below on YouTube

Another New Addition for integration is listening to music for integration. This playlist is selection that would be played on a radio station. Young and interactive day to day topics that align with integration of new behaviour postures and conditioning. Add it to your playlist if you enjoy a selection of different genera’s.

For example, When Separation Dissolves – refers to #8 in the Levels of Consciousness.

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Copyright 2014 โ€“ 2026 Renee Lindstrom, GCFP

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Announcing The Lotus Flower Summer Embodiment Journal

Now Available on Amazon

Companion Activity:

Lotus Flower Embodiment Action Cards

Awareness. Intention. Alignment. Growth.

A mindful journal to plan, reflect, and align with your highest self. The Lotus Flower Summer Weekly Embodiment Actions Journal is designed to support this journey.

Like the lotus flower, growth often emerges through challenge. Each page of this journal is an invitation to slow down, notice what matters, and take intentional steps toward the life you wish to create.

Inside these pages, you will find space to:

  • Set meaningful intentions
  • Track habits and progress
  • Reflect on emotions and experiences
  • Practice gratitude
  • Strengthen self-awareness
  • Align your actions with your values

This journal has been created through 26 years of experience integrating somatic awareness as support for understanding and increasing clarity in behaviour through movement, communication and listening. The cognitive behaviour and somatic behaviours are intertwined and this author practitioner and mentor has recognized a lack of balance and understanding between the two. Mainstream guided pattern focus in education has mainly been on cognitive function and not on somatic experience. Therefore, the somatic reactions can be out of control without the skills to keep impulse control in check. This is demonstrated through a lack of body connections to how the skeleton functions at the core patterns and in the inner processing of information due to limited filters of understanding. The guided patterns in this journal support the integration of balancing the interrelationships between the body and mind responses.

Below you will find two more somatic oriented activates that engage the mind through guided patterns. One is meditation and the other through sound.

Connect to learn more about Lotus Flower Embodiment Learning Series that integrates functional movement and mindfulness for converting out of balance reactions into conscious responses.


Listen to Meditation to support Lotus Flower Embodiment Series:

Listen to Music Playlist to support Lotus Flower Embodiment Series:

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Copyright 2014 โ€“ 2026 Renee Lindstrom, GCFP

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Recognizing a gap between a somatic newborn and a cognitive societies social conditioning

by Renee Lindstrom, founder Inside Awareness Center for Integrative Somatic Learning

Invert hierarchy titles: safety top, self-actualization bottom

This blog article below was written on this author’s personal website http://www.reneelindstrom.com recently. It is from a perspective of a somatic empath that carries the ability to identify the authentic somatic experience and the cognitive conceptualization that those not in their somatic experience believe it is. No judgement, simply a gap this author is bringing focus to. You can read this article by clicking the article link below or listen on You tube at link below it. I hope this content will be of interest in those sincerely interested in actively going beyond what they think they know from societies conditioning in accepting the stories attached to their mental, emotional and physical states of being. The first step to breaking free of acceptance to labels, assessments, and moral judgements, etc., is having clarity on the separation that supports it.

Below are two earlier articles from this authors personal web site on Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs from an interesting perspective that may be interesting to read after digesting and integrating this perspective from a somatic empath. Understanding this first stage will support how society is perhaps being misguided by this lack of clarity by those who are seeking to meet their needs without compassion and empathy for others.

If you would like to connectย to learn moreย about educational opportunities, coaching, mentoring , consulting or functional integrations

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Body Mindfulness TMJ Jaw Release Audio

by Renee Lindstrom, founder, Inside Awareness Center for Integrative Somatic Learning

Launching TMJ – Jaw Release #1 – Side to Side

TMJ Jaw Release Guided Pattern Audio #1/3

These guided patterns are from Feldenkrais workshop that Renee has held since 2007. The feedback after each workshop has been positive with appreciation expressed. Here is a recent comment from a ’26 workshop.

I always appreciate my sessions with you and the learning. The focus on the tongue, back of throat and head hinging as part of the jaw release has really made a difference. Some of what you shared was new for me so it is taking me awhile to get the hang of it but Iโ€™ve been exploring those movements further at home and itโ€™s been good. J

These somatic patterns are called Awareness through Movement Lessons and this workshop series is the integration of of moving parts that enhance ease in the jaw function. The patterns cutivate awareness of the joint movement through micro movements that increase efficiency.

A student may become consciously aware of the individual parts inside their mouth and in their facial features, neck, and further down the torso. It is a wonderful way to find a deeper inner peacefulness, and experience the calming influence of mindfulness.

These lesson contribute to:

  • Reducing jaw and neck pain
  • Headache support through pain reduction
  • Increased jaw function
  • Lessen scienty, tension and stress
  • Improve Jaw Function
  • Enhance sleep and relaxation

Read more on the benefits of Somatic Body Mindfulness and research of Feldenkrais below


How to purchase and enjoy TJM Jaw Release – Side to Side


TMJ – Jaw Release Side to Side #1of 3

Explore the anatomy of the jaw using guided patterns and mindful exploration for cultivating awareness through the felt senses and the skeleton.

Use QR Code to Purchase or go below

#2 and #3 Coming this March ’26


Learn More about Body Mindfulness

Some of the conditions that SBM guided patterns that Renee has observed improve are:

  • Anxiety and Depression
  • Artheritis
  • Back and Neck Pain
  • Loss of Balance
  • Bell’s Palsy
  • High Blood Pressure
  • Shallow Breathing
  • Chronic Pain
  • Eating Disorders
  • Fibromyalgia
  • Lack of Flexibility
  • Hip, Knee and Ankle Joint Pain
  • Injuries
  • Insomnia
  • Pulled Muscles
  • Multiple Sclerosis
  • Parkinsons
  • Locked Shoulders
  • Stroke
  • TMJ

Some of the Benefits that Research has shown are:

  • Improved:
    • proprioception
    • coordination and ease of movement
    • posture and stability
    • well-being
    • feeling of confidence
    • breathing
  • Decreased
    • pain
    • spasm

Research Evidence:

  • Improves:
    • body awareness:  Multiple sclerosis, pain, stroke, able-bodied  
    •  mobility
    •  stability
    •  coordination
    •  ease of movement
    •  posture
    •  balance confidence
    •  mood
    •  breathing
    •  well-being and quality of life
    •  sleep
    •  self efficacy and health locus of control
    •  self image
    •  greater recruitment of the affected part of the motor cortex  (stroke)
  • Reduces, decreases:
    • decreased pain
    • fatigue
    • anxiety and stress
    • medical costs

To learn more about this Research on the Benefits of Feldenkrais, go to the link in the description box and tap the link

Introduction: Grounding thru Body Mindfulness

Benefits:

  • reduce and reverse aging
  • increasing flexibility and resilience
  • develop body awareness
  • reduce body tension, pain, anxiety and effort
  • increase relaxation and windows of emotional tolerance and self-connection
  • improve sleep and sleep sounder
  • increase body functions, cognition and emotional responses of calm, mindfulness and joy

Exploring the body anatomy through the felt senses increases inner awareness โ€‹ and trust. This โ€‹body exploration is a different type of strength training. The difference โ€‹is theโ€‹ focus of attention on the body, mind and felt senses through guided patterns designed to expand conscious awareness of the body function. The strength of feeling oneโ€‹’s body through moving joints and bones deepens awareness of physical connections โ€‹as โ€‹postures change, like in the shifting transitions from sitting to standing and back to sitting. Movement is a series of shifting postures. The functioning healthy body is not stationary, nor poses. It is designed for a continuous flow of integrative movement patterns.


Feedback On Body Mindfulness Introduction

“I am excited!!! This is great! It is like you are there with me step by step. It’s what all of us are looking for, real Feldenkrais support” S
That was great, Renee! You have such a calm and lovely voice. I’m happy to add this to my calming strategies. Thank you. H
I really like this sort of thing and would welcome further โ€œinstallmentsโ€ in the series and/or a revised version of this one. I liked the pace at which you spoke, not too rushed and left enough time to do the exploration of the particular area of the body to which you were drawing attention.
I liked that you offered options re leg position (straight out or with bolster under knees) but wondered whether one position or the other is preferable. Or is it just that one would notice different things, depending on how the legs are positioned?”   K


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Copyright 2014 โ€“ 2026 Renee Lindstrom, GCFP

Feldenkraisยฎ, Feldenkrais Methodยฎ, Awareness Through Movementยฎ, and Functional Integrationยฎ, are registered service marks of the Feldenkrais Guildยฎ of North America

Somatic Body Mindfulness Audios

by Renee Lindstrom, founder, Inside Awareness Center for Integrative Somatic Learning

Launching Somatic Body Mindfulness Series on Audio Video

Guided Somatic Patterns for Centering

Listen on Youtube audio – Authors Voice

Cultivating Awareness & Grounding through Body Mindfulness

Somatic Body Mindfulness is a series of guided movement patterns based upon the Feldenkraisยฎ Method of Somatic Education through the perspective of Renee Lindstrom, GCFP ’07 . Renee has been teaching Lifestyle Models in the community since the mid-nineties, which has expanded her perspective, clarity and understanding of learning and aging.

These Somatic Body Mindfulness audio videos will align body, mind and emotions. These patterns will calm the nervous system and increase inner peace. With an increase in the felt sense of inner quiet, there is an increase of clarity in the felt sense movement patterns in the shifting body parts as they transition postures. This mindful connection to the movement and physical response in transition increases conscious awareness and organically integrates the pattern into movement behaviours.ย ย 

Somatic Body Mindful guided patterns reduce tension, stress, anxiety, fear, frustration and anger and increase inner calm, peace and relaxation. SBM guided patterns support an increase in the range of motion and can reduce constraints that restrict movement.

The positive mental and physical functional outcomes of these SBM guided patterns increase clarity, focus, inner calm, mindfulness, stability and physical balance. These patterns will create a balanced alignment between the mental, emotional and physical functions. This alignment improves flexibility and spontaneity. The positive emotional outcomes are an increase of inner peacefulness, contentment, groundedness, connection and belonging.

Some of the conditions that SBM guided patterns that Renee has observed improve are:

  • Anxiety and Depression
  • Artheritis
  • Back and Neck Pain
  • Loss of Balance
  • Bell’s Palsy
  • High Blood Pressure
  • Shallow Breathing
  • Chronic Pain
  • Eating Disorders
  • Fibromyalgia
  • Lack of Flexibility
  • Hip, Knee and Ankle Joint Pain
  • Injuries
  • Insomnia
  • Pulled Muscles
  • Multiple Sclerosis
  • Parkinsons
  • Locked Shoulders
  • Stroke
  • TMJ

Some of the Benefits that Research has shown are:

  • Improved:
    • proprioception
    • coordination and ease of movement
    • posture and stability
    • well-being
    • feeling of confidence
    • breathing
  • Decreased
    • pain
    • spasm

Research Evidence:

  • Improves:
    • body awareness: ย Multiple sclerosis, pain, stroke, able-bodied ย 
    • ย mobility
    • ย stability
    • ย coordination
    • ย ease of movement
    • ย posture
    • ย balance confidence
    • ย mood
    • ย breathing
    • ย well-being and quality of life
    • ย sleep
    • ย self efficacy and health locus of control
    • ย self image
    • ย greater recruitment of the affected part of the motor cortex ย (stroke)
  • Reduces, decreases:
    • decreased pain
    • fatigue
    • anxiety and stress
    • medical costs

To learn more about this Research on the Benefits of Feldenkrais, go to the link in the description box and tap the link


How to purchase and enjoy this introduction to a grounding and centering somatic experience:


Introduction: Grounding thru Body Mindfulness

Experience Somatic Body Mindfulness by aligning felt sense observation and anatomy

Introduction to the anatomy using guided patterns and mindful exploration for cultivating awareness through the felt senses and the skeleton.

Use QR Code to Purchase or go below

Benefits:

  • reduce and reverse aging
  • increasing flexibility and resilience
  • develop body awareness
  • reduce body tension, pain, anxiety and effort
  • increase relaxation and windows of emotional tolerance and self-connection
  • improve sleep and sleep sounder
  • increase body functions, cognition and emotional responses of calm, mindfulness and joy

Exploring the body anatomy through the felt senses increases inner awareness โ€‹ and trust. This โ€‹body exploration is a different type of strength training. The difference โ€‹is theโ€‹ focus of attention on the body, mind and felt senses through guided patterns designed to expand conscious awareness of the body function. The strength of feeling oneโ€‹’s body through moving joints and bones deepens awareness of physical connections โ€‹as โ€‹postures change, like in the shifting transitions from sitting to standing and back to sitting. Movement is a series of shifting postures. The functioning healthy body is not stationary, nor poses. It is designed for a continuous flow of integrative movement patterns.


Feedback On Body Mindfulness Introduction

“I am excited!!! This is great! It is like you are there with me step by step. It’s what all of us are looking for, real Feldenkrais support” S
That was great, Renee! You have such a calm and lovely voice. I’m happy to add this to my calming strategies. Thank you. H
I really like this sort of thing and would welcome further โ€œinstallmentsโ€ in the series and/or a revised version of this one. I liked the pace at which you spoke, not too rushed and left enough time to do the exploration of the particular area of the body to which you were drawing attention.
I liked that you offered options re leg position (straight out or with bolster under knees) but wondered whether one position or the other is preferable. Or is it just that one would notice different things, depending on how the legs are positioned?”   K



Connect for Lifestyle Coaching and Learning Needs


Follow Socials:


Copyright 2014 โ€“ 2026 Renee Lindstrom, GCFP

Feldenkraisยฎ, Feldenkrais Methodยฎ, Awareness Through Movementยฎ, and Functional Integrationยฎ,ย are registered service marks of theย Feldenkrais Guildยฎ of North America

Power and control through function

Back to basics, the skeleton

A focus I have, as a somatic empathic practitioner, is the power and control through function. The lens or viewpoint is through functional movement, functional processing of information internally of the environment that stimulates action, reactions and expression.

This lens includes the past, present and future potential. It is also not exclusive to one function or another as my view is on the effects and potential for whole functional integration learned through social conditioning. The conditioning of the functioning movement, language process and relationships to emotions that are responses to thinking patterns and the felt senses that are spontaneous to actual experiences happening in the moment. The patterns I use are to retrain the brain through functional guidance that easily expands the conditions holding someone in a belief system constraining their potential for increasing mobility and flexibility. This includes the thinking constraints in functional movement or relationship interactions, internal or external.

A core function that is the power and control system of human function is breathing. This morning I have a workshop introducing movement patterns through the skeleton to expand the individual consciousness of each participant. They will all be starting from their own unique social conditioned experience. This suggests there isn’t a set pattern that will integrate a full range of functional movement that will be the exact same. Often, I will run into comments like, ‘that’s not the way I was taught in …………. ‘ You can fill in the blanks from your own experience. It seems other modalities focus on telling students that there is only one way you can breathe, meaning I hear it from those who have gone into agreement with that limited clarity of facilitators who believe what they are sharing with their students, until they themselves advance their functional body awareness of full mobility. Our social conditioning is such a right and wrong culture. I had a Pilates instructor participate as a student in a class, sit up from the lesson and began to have a disagreement. Four years later, they advertised the same workshop from my perspective and patterns. They were not ready to take in the patterns to explore and expand their consciousness at the time of my workshop, yet 100 percent believed they were right and I was wrong. This is a pattern that I now recognize as social conditioning. Each modality is locked into a belief system of right or wrong ways of functioning until challenged. Unfortunately, it’s also the instructor’s ability to integrate what they are hearing and how they interpret it that shifts the original clarity of the method and conforms it into a lesser consciousness.

This is on my mind as I enter the workshop today. I recently did a series on rolling with the ribs, and I ran into someone whose fear skyrocketed with the shift in how they were breathing. It interfered with an activity they had been doing that was locked in. The fear was so great and behaviour so locked in, they couldn’t be spontaneous. Instead of self-reflection to question their limiting belief to free up their fear, they believed any other movement patterns had to be wrong. They wanted to tell me that twenty years of practical application of Feldenkrais was wrong, as they had a Yoga instructor teach them that this was the way to breathe, and from what I heard is they believed it to be the only way in every activity. Breathing is life. Literally. There is no one way. It depends upon the activity. It also depends upon available skeletal movement function. This person was hyper-focused on the diaphragm and lacked internal felt sense, or image of the skeleton, nor the relationship to the other bones in the body that counterbalance the rib movements. Afterall, the diaphragm could not possibly counterbalance the weight of the skull nor support the mild fluctuations through the vertebra. Let’s get real here for a moment. So here’s my answer. Back to the basics and begin with the skeleton. That’s a joke, as that’s the only thing I do.

I will focus on the connection between the skull and pelvis, which is: the spine, rib cage, shoulder blades, breast bone and clavicles. I asked Ai for an image, and they can’t provide an accurate one. Even the earlier anatomy images are disappearing online and being replaced with terrible ones that aren’t necessarily correct. This is not a good sign for future learning.

Renee is a Certified Feldenkrais Practitioner โ€“ since 2007

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Feldenkraisยฎ Practitioner since 2007, Communication & Empathy Coach since 2004, Art of Placement since 2001